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I see it all the time – professionals and amateurs alike. If you’re going to use PowerPoint, please ensure that your slide show is set up in such a way that you do not find yourself walking in front of it while your slides are up. The shadow you throw on the screen is...

The value of establishing audience rapport quickly is fundamental to the success of any presentation or talk. This not only relaxes you, the speaker, but gets the audience aligned with the objectives and flow of the talk. A popular method is to use “ice breakers” in...

The tone of your voice is one of your most important “convincing” tools. We humans are generally skilled at choosing our words, but it is the tone of our voice that gives away our true feelings, and triggers trust or suspicion in the listener. When rehearsing a talk...

If you are serious about delivering a successful presentation it is imperative to get organised early on in the planning stages and stay organised. Any unsuccessful presentation will always be able to pinpoint lack of proper organisation as the main culprit. And successful...

Most presentations or talks are scheduled for a specific time period – 30 minutes – 75 minutes or whatever. There are a number of important reasons why you should try a stick to your time slot as best you can: Your audience is geared for this amount of time –...

They say you have 7 seconds to make a first impression and that the initial impression is the lasting one. Your attire is a big part of this, and so is the way you make your appearance. The most significant part of your introduction is, however, the manner in which you start...

The quality of your vocal presentation has more impact on the success of a presentation than any other single factor. When practicing a presentation this aspect of the presentation is usually completely ignored in favour of content and body language. If you can focus on a...

A common pitfall of speakers and presenters is that they often speak too fast, giving the audience little time to reflect on the past sentence. A more controlled pace helps the speaker to use his/her voice better, create more inflection and emphasis and get the point accress with...

You have an audience. They have come to listen to what you have to say. Be gracious enough to respect their wishes. Just be yourself. It’s the best gift you can give them.

If it hasn’t happened to you yet, it may well if you are not aware of the possibility. Something breaks or comes loose or goes flat at your last presentation. You go home and forget about it. Next presentation you’re about to go live and…oops! It could be a...

Ask any successful speaker or presenter and she will confirm that the importance of getting the attention of the audience from the outset is immeasurable. This is often achieved by using humour. Others like to get involvement from their audience immediately. Both methods can be...

The best colour for shoes during a presentation is black. The smarter the presentation, the more important it is you stick to black – without the white socks, that is! For gents, socks should match the trousers, not the shirt, and your belt should also be black. Ladies...